Binary Decoded
by toothlessturtle21
Summary: Zane wasn't sure how to bring it up. How do you tell the most masculine person you know that being called a man makes your skin crawl? Zane's answer? With a deep breath and a lot of bottled up dysphoria.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is just a funky little headcanon that I don't quite fully believe, but I think it's cute. Also, after writing this, I have such a respect for authors who can write nonbinary characters easily, as it seems to prove more difficult for me. Set in the middle of season two. **

* * *

Cole and Zane were enjoying a nice time on the roof of the Bounty, a light breeze tousling their hair. Cole was incredibly relaxed, no training or bad guys making him worry. Zane, however, couldn't stop fidgeting out of nerves, gaze lingering on Cole, the subtle hint that he had something to say. It took the Earth Ninja a long time, but he finally picked up on the cues.

"Everything alright?" He asked softly, not wanting to disturb the mostly peaceful environment.

Zane didn't answer right away, his eyes not meeting the Earth Ninja. "Cole, what does being male mean?"

"Um," The noirette furrowed his eyebrows, not quite sure how to answer. "Well, usually people are born male, but it's not always the case, like if they're transgender or something. It's different for everyone, I guess. For me, I like the aesthetic of being a dude, y'know? Like the stubble and the pecs and stuff."

Zane didn't respond, thinking. Cole decided that maybe more explanation was required.

"I know it's a little bit stereotypical, but I also like the feeling of being the strongman, I guess. The muscles and the ladies falling at your feet and everything. There's really no way to fully explain what it means, Zane. That's what makes it so hard."

"Well," The Ice Ninja shifted slightly uncomfortably. "I don't know if I fully embrace the term 'male'. I don't dislike my physical appearance in that way, it just feels... wrong. What is most unsettling to me is that I can't explain why. It's an anomaly."

"Do you feel more female?" Cole asked curiously, making sure any surprise he felt didn't bleed into his tone.

"Not more so than male, no," Zane rested his head on his hand, relieved that the confession went over smoothly. "Like I previously stated, I can't quite explain why or how I feel this way. I don't really expect you to be able to help me much, really. I am unsure if this is a problem in my code, so perhaps I should have spoken to Jay."

"I don't think this is an error in your code, bud. There are humans that feel like this too."

"There are?" Zane seemed stunned, eyes wide.

"Yeah, sure. You say that you don't feel male, but you don't feel female either?"

"That would be an approximate description, yes."

"If you don't mind me asking," Cole shifted to face the Ice Ninja more, making sure to keep his voice down as not to alert the other residents of the Bounty. "What makes you feel like you're not male?"

"I suppose the best way to describe it would be through examples. For instance, I feel not quite comfortable in my own skin when someone refers to me as 'manly', or any term with a usually masculine connotation."

Cole thought for a moment before he spoke, Zane's expression of anxiousness making his gut twist.

"Do you know what the word nonbinary means in the context of gender stuff?"

The Ice Ninja slowly shook his head, although he had a vague idea.

"I am aware of the original meaning, however. It is an adjective describing something not defined to a binary category, hence the prefix 'non'."

"Yeah, that sums it up. It means you don't feel male or female, or maybe you're somewhere in-between. I had a friend back home that goes by 'they', but you don't have to."

"I could use other pronouns beside than my current ones?" Zane suddenly felt stupid, inept in that Cole was having to explain these foundational parts of human psychology to him. He really should have done more research before bringing this topic up.

"If you want to. Could even change your name, if you feel that Zane's too masculine."

"No, I like my name. But it was a nice suggestion, thank you. I also apologize for being so uneducated in this topic, my intent wasn't for you to educate me."

"Don't be sorry, I'm glad you got some positive feedback before stumbling across some not nice corners of the internet trying to research it yourself," Cole grimaced, but suddenly realized that he was assuming that Zane wanted to go by the term. "No pressure to chose a label though. You don't have to change your pronouns, if you don't want to, or even call yourself nonbinary in the first place. It's all about how you feel."

"I do believe I identify as nonbinary," Zane smiled for the first time in this whole conversation, a sense of calm washing over him along with a jittery sense. "And if it's not too much trouble, I would like to try out using 'they' as a pronoun."

"No problemo," Cole slung an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Maybe we should all just call each other siblings instead of brothers. Includes you and Nya."

"I don't know if you understand how much this all means," Zane felt warm, like they were being hugged by a thousand little Kais. "I'm afraid I don't know how to articulate my emotions as of right now, but thank you."

"Really, no trouble. You alright if I still call you dude? Don't know if it's too gendered for you."

"I have no issue with the term."

"Great. Now, you wanna tell the others? Once again, no pressure, but I have a feeling they'll react pretty much how I did."

"If you believe as much, then I have no qualms."

* * *

Just as Cole predicted, the others hugged Zane with croons of familial affection and agreed immediately, and the Ice Ninja felt like they could have cried from how relaxed everyone's reaction was. Jay and Nya offered to help Zane with making their appearance more androgynous, which they accepted.

"So, what do you want?" Jay asked, pulling out a pencil and paper as Zane sat on his workbench, legs swinging.

"Is there a way to grow my hair out? If it is possible, I would like to be able to put it in a low ponytail, as the hairstyle is called." They explained, a little excitement leaking into their tone.

"I'm sure we could find a way. What else?" Nya nodded, and Jay jot it down on the paper.

"As a whole, I am actually fairly comfortable with my appearance, so the hair should be sufficient. Thank you," They smiled, and the two others responded with ones of their own.

"Alrighty, let's get started," Jay set down the paper, and he and Nya got to work.

When they were done, Zane couldn't stop playing with their hair. They immediately fastened it into a low style, and happily ran their fingers through it as they lounged around, reading and playing video games as normal.

Surrounded by their friends, Zane couldn't fathom what they had done in their life to deserve the luxury of such supportive siblings, but was immensely grateful for them anyway, and never looked back on the feelings of displacement, instead replacing it with the affection of a team that supported them no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

Getting Zane's siblings to accept them was the easy part. Getting the tiny terror and their Sensei to understand proved to be more difficult.

To Lloyd's credit, he wasn't cruel and didn't have any malicious intent, but growing up in a school where slurs were thrown around as the norm didn't do him any favors.

Zane had sat him down separately from the rest of his siblings, Cole beside them in case Lloyd had any questions they couldn't answer.

"So," The Earth Ninja started. "My first question for you, Lloyd, is do you know what a nonbinary person is?"

The Green Ninja shook his head.

"Someone who identifies as nonbinary doesn't see themselves as male or female," Cole explained, and Zane nodded along, nervousness clouding their mind. "They see themselves as in-between."

"That doesn't make any sense," Lloyd's brows furrowed as he wracked his brain for his lackluster biology class knowledge. "There's only male and female and that's it. You can't be both."

"It's all feeling, Lloyd. Most people are one or the other, but you don't have to be."

"But that's wrong, you can't- but-" The kid sputtered, as if this information was crumbling his worldview. "Aren't those people insane? That's what I learned in school..."

"Zane," Cole murmured, so Lloyd couldn't hear him clearly. "You can leave if you want. I can handle this."

"No," The Ice Ninja took a deep breath. "Let me get this."

Lloyd looked more confused now than he had before, and Zane moved forward to rest a hand on the blonde's knee.

"I am going to preface this conversation with the fact that I identify as nonbinary, Lloyd," They said earnestly, and Lloyd's cheeks flushed as he thought back on what he had said moments ago. "Although I do not believe I am insane, I am willing to answer any possible questions you have in a respectful manner, as long as you speak the same way to me."

Cole stared, in awe at Zane's composure as Lloyd nodded bashfully. "Sorry."

"It is quite alright, Lloyd. It's alright Cole, I can get it from here," They nodded, and the Earth Ninja pat their back as he left.

"Lloyd," Zane addressed him, and the Green Ninja nervously met their gaze. "How would you feel if I called you a girl and used the pronoun 'she' to refer to you?"

"I'm not a girl though," Lloyd defended weakly, and Zane smiled.

"Exactly. You are not a girl, just as I am not a boy."

"But you _are_ a boy," The Green Ninja protested.

"Actually, I'm a robot," Zane couldn't help but tease, and Lloyd glared with only a little deleterious intent.

"You know what I mean. You were built to be a boy, right?"

"Affirmative. My appearance is that of a standard human male," Zane stifled any more of their laughter, and Lloyd just stared them down.

"Then why don't you just say you're male?" Lloyd sounded legitimately frustrated, and the Ice Ninja would have felt bad had this conversation not been going in circles.

"I was built to resemble a male, yes, but mentally, I do not identify as such."

"But..." The Green Ninja trailed off, and Zane sighed.

"Lloyd, I am not asking for you to understand me," They raised their hands to rest them on Lloyd's shoulders, voice soft. "I am only asking for you to respect me. That is all I ask. I would prefer you to use the pronouns they and them to refer to me."

"Still don't get it, but fine," Lloyd shrugged, still unsure but deciding this conversation was awkward enough already. "I'll try."

"Thank you," Zane smiled, and leaned in to hug the child. Lloyd still had no idea what had just happened, but returned the hug to his friend anyway.

* * *

Zane went in to talk to Sensei alone. They waited until they could catch Wu when he was at his most peaceful, right before bed, and gently knocked on the door.

"Come in," His voiced sounded, and the Ice Ninja entered, nerves written all over their face.

"Zane, what is bothering you?" Wu asked immediately, reading them like a book.

"I've been wanting to talk to you," They began, sitting down across from their mentor.

"Is it about your hair? Because it is a refreshing change," Wu complimented, and Zane smiled, this conversation already going better than their one with Lloyd.

"Thank you, and in a way, it is. I suppose I will ask you the same question I asked Lloyd to begin with. Do you know what being a nonbinary person means?"

"It is the newest term to describe on whose self-identified gender does not fully align with either end of the spectrum, correct?"

Zane was stunned.

"Yes, actually. That is correct. My apologies, I was not expecting you to answer in that way."

"Is this your way of telling me that you identify as nonbinary, Zane?"

"Affirmative," The Ice Ninja nodded, nervously playing with their hair.

"In that case, Zane," Wu made full eye contact with his student. "I want you to know you will always be accepted by your family."

That, out of all the things said to them over the last few days of nonstop coming out to people, was what made Zane start to cry. Their teacher merely opened his arms and let the Ice Ninja release their emotions into him, arms wrapped tightly around them as slow circles were rubbed into their back.

* * *

It was about a week later that the news slipped to the public. Kai had posted a Chirp, which consisted of a video of Zane flipping some pancakes, with Jay commenting in the background that "they make the best breakfast" to Cole, with Zane laughing and thanking him.

Ninjago's social media scene blew up, all speculating whether or not it was a slipup, or if the Lightning Ninja had intentionally referred to his teammate like that. Zane, who never really used their Chirp, started getting bombarded with notifications, some nice, some not so much. They didn't even notice their phone exploding until later that morning, when Kai nervously peeped into their room, where they were reading soundly on their bed.

"Hey Zane? I may have screwed something up."

"What happened?" Zane put their bookmark in, expecting something on fire they needed to ice or a Lloyd had gotten himself stuck in a tree again.

"Y'know how you were flipping pancakes really high this morning?"

"Yes, did you attempt to replicate my process?"

"No, but I filmed you when you were doing it and I posted it," Kai hoped he didn't have to say it out loud, but Zane merely narrowed their eyes.

"I am afraid I am not sure why this is negative."

"Well, it caught Jay in the background talking to Cole about you, so..."

Now Zane understood.

"Have people noticed?"

"You could say that, yeah," Kai swallowed thickly, and the Ice Ninja picked up their phone for the first time. Notifications were constantly flooding their screen, and they paled.

"I- I am afraid I do not know what to say. I am not angry with you by any means. I just am unsure how to react to the attention."

"Thanks," Kai smiled in relief, and joined Zane on the bed. "I'll help you sort it out if you want, I'm kind of a Chirp expert."

* * *

**Zane Julien** 12:02 PM

_ FrostyTheIceNinja_

Hello all! There have been many rumors spread in the past few hours, and I would like to clear them up by confirming that yes, I do identify as nonbinary, and my pronouns are they/them. Thank you! :)

* * *

**Rina K **12:05 PM

_ LoneWolf_4924_

I'm so happy for you *_FrostyTheIceNinja_! We stan a legend

* * *

**Jackson L **12:11 PM

_DeezNuts51_

_*FrostyTheIceNinja _what the hell does nonbinary mean? I swear kids are on crack now

* * *

**Rina K **12:15 PM

_LoneWolf_4924_

*FrostyTheIceNinja *_DeezNuts51 _It means look it up or ask nicely, dumbass

* * *

**Zane Julien **12:21 PM

_FrostyTheIceNinja_

*_DeezNuts51 *LoneWolf_4924_ I thank you for your concern, Rina, and it means that I identify as neither male or female and would prefer to be referred to as such. I hope this helped. I can also assure you that I do not do any drugs, nor would they even affect me.

* * *

**Kai Smith **12:23 PM

_ItsGettingHotInHere_

_*_FrostyTheIceNinja Direct anyone who's mean to you over here. I'll roast em

Pinned by FrostyTheIceNinja

* * *

**Zane Julien **12:24 PM

_FrostyTheIceNinja_

*_ItsGettingHotInHere _Thank you Kai, I will be sure to. Also, you are sitting directly next to me. What was the purpose of sending me a message?

* * *

**Kai Smith **12:25 PM

_ItsGettingHotInHere_

_*_FrostyTheIceNinja Could say the same to you

* * *

Zane laughed, lowering their phone as Kai snickered as well.

"Yes, I will admit, you bested me there."

"Seriously though, I will beat the shit out of anyone and everyone. Online, of course, but still."

"Thank you, Kai," Zane leaned over and side hugged the Fire Ninja, who returned it with a grin.

"No problem, buddy. Hey, I have an idea."

Kai leaned back and Zane threw a peace sign as Kai took a snapshot of their hair, which was tied back into a low ponytail once more. Soon, Kai had posted it with the hashtag #NonbinaryRoyalty, which to the team's delight, was top spot on the trending list by the end of the hour.


End file.
